9-10 December 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Mexico’s Vanessa Poncede Leon crowned Miss World 2018

Mexico’s Vanessa Poncede Leon (26-year) has won the coveted Miss World 2018 (68th edition) crown at a grand event in China.

She is the first Mexican woman to win Miss World.

She was presented the crown by the last year's Miss World winner Manushi Chhillar (India) at the event in Sanya City Arena in China.

Nicolene Limsnukan of Thailand was named first runner-up.

Almost 118 contestants from countries across the world participated in the beauty pageant.

India’s Anukreethy Vas (Tamil Nadu) failed to make a mark at the pageant as she could not even make it to the top 30.

List of Indian beauty queens who have won the Miss World title

Name

Year

Reita Faria

1966

Aishwarya Rai

1994

Diana Haydon

1997

Yukta Mookhey

1999

Priyanka Chopra

2000

Manushi Chhillar

2017

Important Dates

2. 10th December: World Human Rights Day

The World Human Rights Day is being observed to honour the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation.

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10th December every year.

The theme this year is, ‘stand up for the human rights’.

This year, Human Rights Day marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone document that proclaimed the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being.

Note:Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on this day by the United Nation's General Assembly in 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris.

3. International Anti-Corruption Day being observed today

International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) has been observed annually on 9th December to raise public awareness of corruption and what people can do to fight it.

Every year USD 1 trillion is paid in bribes while an estimated USD 2.6 trillion are stolen annually through corruption.

Note: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) had designated 9th December as International Anti-Corruption Day by passing resolution 58/4 of October 31, 2003.

National Affairs

4. President Kovind to embark on a 4-day visit to Myanmar

Today, President Ram Nath Kovind will be on a four-day visit to Myanmar and interact with his counterpart U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

During the visit, President will meet the surviving members of the Indian National Army and attend a community reception.

Myanmar is a country where India’s "Act East” and "Neighbourhood First” policies intersect.

It is strategically important for the development of India's North East and also link to South East Asia.

5. Govt. notifies commonly used medical devices as drugs

The Union Government has notified commonly used medical devices nebulizers, blood pressure monitors, digital thermometers and glucometers as drugs (under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act).

The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) will regulate the import, manufacture and sale of these devices from January 2020.

DCGI is the Country’s highest drug advisory body.

Now, 27 medical devices (earlier-23) fall under the definition of drugs under the Act.

Note: Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) is responsible for approval of licences of specified categories of drugs such as blood and blood products, IV fluids, vaccines and sera in India.

6. Kannur International Airport in Kerala begins operations

Kannur International Airport (KIAL) has been Inaugurated by Pinarayi Vijayan (Chief Minister of Kerala) in the presence of Minister of Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu.

Now, Kerala is the only state in the country with four international airports.

The Kannur airport will give a major boost to trade, commerce, tourism, employment and export prospects in Kerala.

The Integrated Passenger Terminal and Air Traffic Control building was designed by premier public sector consultancy agency KITCO India.

The three-day 18th All India Annual Conference of the Heads of Science Centre’s and Museums has begun at Itanagar.

Arunachal Pradesh State Council Science and Technology is playing an important role to tie up and collaborate with other scientific institutions across the country to promote science and technology in the state.

The conference will able to chalk out strategies to promote scientific temper and to play a catalyst role for students.

Books & Authors

8. Vice President releases books on selected speeches of President Ram Nath Kovind

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has released a compilation of selected speeches of President Ram Nath Kovind titled, "The Republican Ethic" in English and "Loktantra ke Swar" in Hindi at a function in New Delhi.

The books are the collection of 95 of his selected speeches out of a total of 243 speeches made by the President in the first year of his office.

Banking & Finance

Capital markets regulator SEBI lined up a slew of relaxations for new-age ventures to kickstart listing of start-ups in India.

The proposed changes include renaming the Institutional Trading Platform that the regulator had created for such listings as Innovators Growth Platform.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had set up an expert group in June this year to review the start-up platform.

The Group held extensive consultations with other stakeholders including start-ups, investors, bankers and wealth management firms and submitted its report to Sebi on the proposed changes.

The changes include doing away with the requirement of at least 50% of pre-issue capital being held by qualified institutional investors.

Obituaries

10. Senior journalist Jagdish Thakkar passes away

India Public Relations Officer (PRO) in the prime minister's office and senior journalist Jagdish Thakkar (72-years) passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in New Delhi.

Mr. Thakkar worked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi since his days as the chief minister of Gujarat and later joined him in the PMO.

He also served nearly a dozen other chief ministers in Gujarat for over three decades.

Thakkar began his career as a journalist at a local daily in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar.

11. Noted historian Mushirul Hasan passes away

Historian Prof. Mushirul Hasan (69-years) passed away recently.

Mr. Hasan was the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.

He has also served as the Director-General of the National Archives of India, and the President of the Indian History Congress.

His book ‘India Partition: The Other Face of Freedom’, documents how Partition displaced millions and left behind a legacy of hostility and bitterness between the governments as well as the people from India and Pakistan.

He documents how Jawaharlal Nehru decided to guide India on to the world stage as a modern nation, contrary to Mahatma Gandhi's imagination of Hind Swaraj.

Resignation

12. Urjit Patel resigns as RBI governor

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel has resigned (effective immediately) from the post due to personal reasons.

Mr. Patel took charge as the RBI governor on 4th September 2016 after Raghuram Rajan resigned from the post on 19th June 2016.

Patel’s term as RBI governor was to end in September 2019.

Note:

The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India is the chief executive of India's central bank and the ex-officio chairperson of its Central Board of Directors.

Indian Rupee currency notes, issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), bear the governor's signature.

Deputy Governors of RBI:

Shri M. K. Jain

Shri B.P. Kanungo

Dr. Viral V. Acharya

Shri N. S. Vishwanathan

Sports

13. India beat Australia by 31 runs in Adelaide test

India beat Australia by 31 runs in the first Test to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series at the Adelaide.

Chasing a target 323, Australia was all out for 291 in 119.5 overs.

Batting first, India were all out for 250 in their first innings and then bowled out the hosts for 235 to take a 15-run lead.

India made 307 in their second innings to set Australia a challenging target.

Note:

IND: 250, 307.

AUS: 235, 291-all out (119.5 Ovs).

Player of the match: Cheteshwar Pujara (India).

14. Khelo India Youth Games to start from 9th January 2019

According to Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore, Khelo India Youth Games-2019 (Play India School Games) will be held from 9th to 20th of January 2019 in Pune, Maharashtra.

Mr. Rathore launched the jersey for the second edition of Khelo India.

Nine thousand youth will participate in this edition of the game.

In 2018, around 3500 school children had participated in the event.

In 2019 of Khelo India Youth Games university players will also take part.

Note:

Khelo India School Games (KISG) is a national level multidisciplinary grassroot games in India for the under-17 years school kids.

Every year best 1000 kids will be given an annual scholarship of Rs. 500,000 for 8 years to prepare them for the international sporting events.